Thrift Store Scores - Misc. Recent Finds

Lately, I've been hitting up thrift stores more than working on our house.  In all honesty we've been working our asses off on the landscape every chance the sun comes out, more on our progress soon.  It's been hit and miss around the thrifting scene lately, giving cause to pull out the modern eagle eye and search the filled aisles of shelves that most thrift stores have.  Here's what I've scored lately:

Just the other day I scored this wood Roadrunner.  Searching Google I found a few similar ones floating around but nothing exactly like this one.  It's unmarked yet totally has a Danish look, looks like we're going to start collecting more birds.

Hiding under a few things Wendy found this little Jere-esque copper / metal flying bug.  It's really small but totally reminds me of Curtis Jere's work.  The body is an old thick nail with wire legs and copper wings.  It had a single antennae that has since fallen off with the slightest touch, you can see where it originally had two. 

A Danish candlestick is always a MCM household staple for generally any flat surface whether it be a mantle or credenza.  I usually prefer these in pairs but couldn't pass on the profile of this one.  It's made by a company called PEET with purpleheart wood, the tapered part is about 1/4" thick, probably wasn't easy to turn this wood so thin, but it's rock solid.

If you scroll back a few posts, you can see we've been on an Art Glass search and acquire mission. Not only does this piece weigh about 5 lbs, but has a nice cone profile on the inside void creating a cool atomic profile.  It has a sticker on the bottom 'Made in Czechoslavakia' but I know nothing more about it other than we like it.

Last but not least, is this metal bird, I wasn't kidding about collecting birds, eh?  It instantly reminded me of a Cardinal with the Eames bird kinda look.  It doesn't fit with our wooden bird original scheme, since it's just our 3rd bird, we'll let it hang around until the next score.

Another shot from above of all the latest additions to our collection.

Thrift Store Score - Homecrest Siesta Chaise

The other night I got a text from my mother that went something like: "Stopped by our Goodwill today, they had a wire chaise like your outdoor chair set." She was referring to our collection of Homecrest wire chairs in our back yard. After an anxious phone call later, she agreed to stop by the next day, and by that evening we had our long hunted Homecrest Siesta chaise and our next furniture restoration project. I knew just the spot in our solarium for it to reside.

I don't know how hard these are to find, but I've been looking for over 5 years for one to fill in our collection. Beyond looking killer, this chair is SUPER comfortable, I'm talking 'did I just fall asleep for a couple hours?' comfy. Like our other Homecrest chairs, this one swivels has an adjustable spring loaded mechanism, ours is seized with paint. Sandblasting, priming and powdercoating will be required before we endeavour in some custom made covers. Fabric is already on my mind, how sweet would this look in some Girard Millerstripe?

Thrift Store Score - Atomic Taylorstone Cathay Dish Set

I made a really nice score yesterday, so nice I have to share. Having recently made many fruitless thrifting ventures, there I was shrugging off another thrift store stop with nothing gained. Then there it was, stacks of these super atomic dishes jumped off the bottom shelf, thank you peripheral vision.

In total we made out with a 31 piece set of Taylorstone 'Cathay' dishes. This collection was made by Taylor, Smith an Taylor in the late 1960s. Around the rims of the plates and bowls it features several atomic / mcm iconic shapes and icons in mint green and sky blue colors. It was love at first sight.

All in all we have 5 mugs, a creamer, platter, large soup bowl, a saucer, 8 bread and butter plates, 1 regular bowl, and 8 dinner plates. Although not a complete collection, a sturdy one if we choose to keep and collect them. We already have one vintage set of dishes, but no where near as cool as these.

The dishes certainly make for some photogenic MCM picture taking. Looking around the internet it seems we could collect to build a 12 person set plus extras, there is a bit of it floating around out there.

Thrift Store Score - Zenith Stereo Cabinet

I obsess about furniture as much as I do renovating our house. With as much thrift store stalking as I do, it's not often I make a killer score like a Lane Acclaim series credenza or a Flexsteel sofa. My recent find of this Zenith Stereo cabinet may top them all. Imagine my suprise having never known of these to find what seems at first to be a nice Danish credenza, a simple vertically layered box, splayed tapered legs. Doors open to reveal speakers and then . . .

It suddenly transforms into a vintage sound system. With my heart racing, sudden urge to pinch self to confirm reality, I immediately grabbed a thrift store employee who helped me plug it in to confirm it worked. Instantly I knew it was the newest member of our furniture collection. Its final residing place in our house is yet to be determined.

The top raises up smoothly and holds to reveal the operable turntable (needs a little work) and the stereo receiver. The original manual was still in record storage slot.

Thrift Store Score -Teak Bird

We recently scored this little teak bird at a local thrift store among a couple of other smaller items. Sometimes it pays to look beyond the furniture and scavenge through the racks of smaller items. After we had the bird for awhile I felt he looked a little lonely, so my daughter and I glued together a bunch of leftover redwood shavings and created a little modern nest for the bird. The designer/maker of the bird is unknown, the bottom is marked "From Bob, 1955". Drop me a line if you might know more.